Beach vs. Holiday… or both.

I was tired and my eyes wouldn’t let me forget that I needed sleep. No, I craved sleep. And yet, my fingers still pricked the dimly lit letters of my keyboard for just a little bit longer as I navigated through an array of holiday craft ideas and planned out ways to celebrate all month long with my littles. ‘Cause everyone knows I love me some holiday. With Thanksgiving peeking it’s head around the corner and Christmas eagerly waiting for it’s grand appearance just a little over six weeks away, it’s time to bust out the bumpy paints and hot glue gun for some holiday home making… and I can’t wait.

This un-diapered baby moment only lasted for a minute, and I think it was the happiest he was all night.

It was an in-between moment, sometimes those are my favorite. Between the hustle of entertaining a group of friends and family down from Michigan –– a group large enough to be split between our home and a vacation rental we’re using for the week… deemed the “guest house,” and between the few moments of downtime at home, downtime filled with laundry washing so we’ve got undies and shirts to wear and cleaning up dishes after a houseful, we spent a sunset at the beach.

We’re still getting used to letting Autumn take us for beach trips and costume wearing without layers and layers underneath. I’m still acclimating to the fact that we’re busier than we’ve ever been, and Fall doesn’t show her face in the blatant way I’m used to… and as we’re headed home from a day near the ocean, we’re getting text messages from home that the first bits of winter have begun to dance their way down from the sky… in the form of snow.

So while we’re experiencing the rising and falling tides of the gulf instead of fallen maple leaves crunching underfoot, I’m determined not to let the holidays slide by un-noticed in my home.  And while our Thanksgivings are usually untraditional anyway, as I’m usually states away from my home and chatting via internet during that time, Christmas is a month long affair in the Blue home, and I’m already planning to dust off the boxes marked “Christmas” in our garage and sprinkle my home with red and green as soon as the last of our current house guests are homeward bound.

Trips to the beach now that we’re almost mid-stride in November tend to bring a welcome gift from the North –– cooler temps, chilled waves and sweet breezes that leave me slipping a sweater on as the sun sinks into the water and changing my littlest from his short sleeves into a snuggly and striped knit… hence the moment of in-between where a naked baby runs freely to the shore line.  There’s also a moment of glorious this is Fall, right here, in Florida. Sand between our toes along with warm, cozy holiday tradition? I guess we can have both.

Our weekend welcomes us with more beach visits, a trip to the Flea Market up the street, and more laughs and adventures with our guests than we can count… Happy Weekend friends!

What do you have planned?